Nanowerk January 6, 2023
To explore how coal can be converted into valuable materials like graphite researchers at Ohio University simulated the substances in computer software. They created a simplified “coal” that consisted of only carbon atoms in random position and exposed them to pressure and high temperature — about 3,000 Kelvin. They formed sheets, but the carbon atoms didn’t entirely develop simple, six-carbon rings. A fraction of the rings had five carbons; others had seven. While six-carbon rings were flat, five- and seven-membered carbon rings puckered. The conditions in these simulations caused the sheets to curve in on themselves formimg nested amorphous carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which could be used in fuel cell catalysis, production of supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, electromagnetic interference shielding, biomedical sciences, and nano-neuroscience…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
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SPC results (gray isosurface) for (a) an ideal graphene layer, (b) a graphene layer with 2 vacancies, (c) M1, and (d) M2… Credit: Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 236402, 10 June 2022Â